Time Warner CEO Awarded $21.5M 2008 Pay Package

Jeffrey Bewkes, the chief executive officer of media giant Time Warner Inc., was awarded compensation in 2008 valued at about $21.5 million according to an Associated Press tally of data filed with regulators.

That’s up 11 percent from a year ago, as the New York-based company cut costs and moved to shed assets such as its cable unit and AOL. But nearly a third of his compensation came in the form of stock options that are currently “underwater” and therefore of little value.

Bewkes, 56, received a salary of $1.75 million, up 40 percent from the $1.25 million he received in the previous year, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

He received a performance-related cash bonus of $7.6 million, up from $7 million a year earlier. Other compensation, including personal use of car, driver and company plane, insurance premiums and a savings plan match, hit $103,517, up from $87,593 a year ago. >>>